Creswell_Research_Design_ Qualitative Quantitative and Mixed Methods Approaches 2018 5th Ed

A Mixed Methods Purpose Statement
Mixed methods purpose statements contains the overall intent of the study, information about both the
quantitative and qualitative strands of the study, and a rationale of incorporating both strands to study the
research problem. These statements need to be identified early, in the introduction, and they provide major
signposts for the reader to understand the quantitative and qualitative parts of a study. Several guidelines
might direct the organization and presentation of the mixed methods purpose statement:
Begin with words that signal intent, such as “The purpose of,” “The study aim is,” or “The intent of.”
Indicate the overall purpose of the study from a content perspective, such as “The intent is to learn
about organizational effectiveness” or “The intent is to examine families with stepchildren.” In this way,
the reader has an anchor to use to understand the overall study before the researcher divides the project
into quantitative and qualitative strands.
Indicate the type of mixed methods design, such as a convergent design, an explanatory sequential
design, an exploratory sequential design or a complex design (as discussed in Chapter 10).
Discuss the reasons or justification for combining both quantitative and qualitative data. This reason
could be one of the following (see Chapter 10 for more detail about these reasons):
To develop a complete understanding of a research problem by comparing quantitative and
qualitative results from the two databases (a convergent design).
To understand the data at a more detailed level by using qualitative follow-up data collection to
help explain quantitative results, such as a survey (see also O’Cathain, Murphy, & Nicholl, 2007)
(an explanatory sequential design).
To develop a new measurement instrument that actually fits the culture of a sample by first
exploring qualitatively (e.g., through interviews) and then testing the instrument with a large
sample (an exploratory sequential design).
To incorporate these reasons (and designs) into a larger design, methodology, or theory such as an
experimental design, a case study or evaluation methodology, or a theory of participatory–social
justice research (see Chapter 10).
Based on these elements, three examples of mixed methods purpose statement scripts follow based on the
convergent, explanatory sequential, and exploratory sequential designs (Creswell & Plano Clark, 2018). This
first example of a mixed methods purpose statement is a script for a convergent mixed methods strategy in
which quantitative and qualitative data are collected and analyzed separately and the two databases compared
to best understand a research problem.
This mixed methods study will address ___________ [overall content aim]. A convergent mixed
methods design will be used, and it is a type of design in which qualitative and quantitative data are
collected in parallel, analyzed separately, and then merged. In this study, ___________ [quantitative
data] will be used to test the theory of ___________ [the theory] that predicts that ___________
[independent variables] will ___________ [positively, negatively] influence the ___________ [dependent
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